Shadows of the Heart
by Super Shadowhenshin
Summary: A group of teens is resurrected after their tragic demises. They must band together and defend humanity against a whole slew of threats, most of which hide in the murky depths. On top of this, the teens must learn to handle themselves in this postmortem existence. Does resurrection even count if your existence ceases to be your own?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello once again, it's been awhile. In the time I've been gone I've been going through a lot of experimentation. This is one of those experiments. I've never really tried a story like this and would never much appreciate a review with your opinion. Should I continue this peice?**

Moments before Justice died he only had one thought on his mind.

His girlfriend and D.A.R.E had both been right, drinking and driving were a bad idea.

Hardly 22, and a mountain of college debt. Justice wasn't exactly in the best of places. It was in this time of pity and self-loathing that he had found alcohol was a pretty decent substitute for actually solving his problems.

It had been going pretty smooth until that night.

The night he found his girlfriend in his bed with another guy.

In his own bed.

What a bitch.

No words, he just turned around and left. He didn't have time to deal with this. His existential crisis was already taking up too much of his time. A cheating girlfriend would have to be put on hold for a few hours.

He really needed a drink.

In a rage, he had fled his home and drove immediately to the bar. Two hours and few drinks later Justice was an utter wreck.

He had considered calling his girlfriend for a ride.

But she was still probably busy with that other guy.

Still probably in his bed.

So he slid in behind the wheel and figured he'd make it work. Even if it killed him.

And it did.

* * *

 _Standing in the wide green field was a girl with long blond hair and a stiff expression. Her eyes were cold and direct, staring at Justice with an indifferent expression._

 _In her open palm rested two devices, a ring, and a watch._

" _You will vanquish all evil," she whispered, then kissed him on the lips._

* * *

Ralph chased the four demons through the darkened city, keeping a close eye on the black colored watch on his wrist. The shorthand rested on the 3, meaning he had less than two hours to take care of business.

The creatures sped past the nearest building and plowed through the road, flying right in front of a lone red truck that seemed oblivious to their existence.

Ralph followed close behind, just barely getting within the grasp of them.

He glanced down again at his watch, feeling a familiar anxiety. This was taking far too long.

He was shaken back into reality by a shriek echoing across the street.

Well, that's just great.

Ralph's worst fears were realized as he approached the four demons and the girl they surrounded. From this angle, Ralph was given a much better view of the creatures. They were clad in long black robes that blended into the darkness behind them the only sense of personality came from the bone shaped masks that concealed their faces.

One of the demons diverted its attention from the girl and lept at Ralph, drawing its thin katana in the process.

Ralph dodged the blade's sharp edge with hardly any wiggle room. He slipped and fell against the brick wall, causing a sharp pain and thin line of hot blood.

The three-foot demon was nimble and quick, easily adjusting to Ralph's shift in position lept forward to deliver a killing blow.

By sheer luck alone when the blade swung down it hit against Ralph's black colored wrist watch. Sparks erupted from the impact point and a rush of blue electricity rushed across the katana and caused the demon to explode.

The death of their comrade seemed to enrage the other three demons because they all turned on Ralph.

"'Least you're not running," he muttered and held out his arm. A red colored gemstone attached to a ring on his middle finger began to glow with a powerful energy.

A blast of red power enveloped his form and harden into a skin tight armor. The armor consisted of black underclothes similar to leather with a red chest plate, leggings, and gauntlets. The chest plate branded the triangular symbol of Aries His helmet seemed to emulate the ram that the symbol was based on, with curling horns on the side of the helmet that greeted each other through the wide black visor.

A large hammer formed in his hand and he immediately smashed one of the oncoming demons into smoke. The second one was slammed right into the wall immediately after.

The last demon began to suddenly convulse before exploding into a whirlwind of energy that abruptly flew into the terrified girl's mouth.

"God dammit," The red warrior mumbled under his breath as the girl began to scream out in pain. Her body thrashed around as it was slowly covered in a dark spiked armor. A mask formed across her face though instead of depicting a human skull it created a face sized tiger skull.

The demon had overwhelmed her, possessing her body and gaining a threatening power.

The super demon slammed right into the red warrior, knocking him directly off his feet and sending him crashing into the side of a building. His armor took a large percentage of the blow, but it still hurt quite a bit.

He tried to recover from the assault, but the enemy was already holding him by the neck. Squeezing tight and snarling in his face.

Just as the creature was going to continue its game of smashing into Red really hard it was interrupted by a blast of green energy. The demon was thrown back and landed hard on its side before sliding across the ground.

"We don't have time for you to be making out with a demon," A snarky voice called from the end of the street. The figure approached quickly. He was dressed in the same armor as the Red warrior, only his was green and had the straight edge symbol for Sagittarius.

"Just in time," Red said, brushing the dust off his legs.

The green warrior drew the string on his large metallic bow and it began to glow radiate a visible energy.

The demon stood in a feral stance, it was clear that whatever demon had taken over the girl's body clearly wasn't a very intelligent one.

The demon started to charge forward, but a powerful energy blast from Green's bow knocked it back several feet.

The demon shook off whatever pain it experienced and stood back up.

"Man this guy is tough," Red whispered.

"Good thing Maria is on her way," Green said, drawing his string back for another attack.

Before Red had enough time to say, _Oh no_ , the third warrior had arrived.

They had lept from atop a nearby rooftop, diving gracefully through the air with their front pointed downward. They then rolled upon impact and maneuvered into a crouching position in front of the other two warriors.

"We only have an hour left, let's try to make this quick," she said calmly, her twin cutlass armed and ready.

Maria's armor was the same as the rest, only purple and carrying the curvy symbol for Scorpio.

Maria jumped at the demon, extending both of her blades. She then swung them both in a scissoring motion, cutting right through the demon's chest and causing a decent amount of smoke to expel from its stomach.

A vortex of dark energy swirled around the demon's body and once it faded the girl remained in its place.

"Let's bring her to the hospital," Maria said, "Then we can head back to the Manor."


	2. Chapter 2

Justice awoke with one of the worst headaches of his entire life. He looked around the room, expecting it to be a hospital.

Instead, it seemed to be a rather cozy looking bedroom.

He gingerly lifted himself up, expecting a wave of pain through his recovering bones, yet there was none.

He looked up at the round mirror to assess the damages to his body. His last memories of the crash hadn't been very pleasant, so he couldn't imagine what his body would look.

Interestingly enough everything looked fine. There didn't seem to be very much damage if any at all. That was great, but it did leave him with the greater mystery.

It wasn't his face staring back at him.

The young man in the mirror was roughly the same age as Justice, but his jaw was definitely more round. His shoulders were large and strong, looking more like a football player than the trumpet player he had been the night before.

The oak door swung open and an older gentleman entered the room. His hair was one large fluff of white, and he had a pleasant smile.

"I thought you might wake up right about now," He said.

"Where am I?" Justice asked. Sure, it wasn't the first question on his mind, but it was a good place to start.

"This is the Lazarus Manor," The man replied sharply. "Home of the wayward and misguided."

"How did I get here?"

"I'm sure you have a lot of questions," The man said, "But breakfast starts in fifteen minutes and you need to get ready." The man left shortly after he spoke, leaving a blue colored polo shirt and a pair of slacks.

Justice stood up, he expected vertigo, he expected a wave of agony.

He expected to wake up from this dream.

Yet there was nothing. It seemed that whatever pale substitute of reality he had stumbled into was here to stay for awhile.

He threw on his clothes and headed out of the room. There was a wide hallway, something similar to a victorian mansion. He passed several more rooms as he traveled to the curving stairs.

Once downstairs he stumbled into a wide dinner hall. A large table erect with several different dishes with steam pouring from the freshly cooked food.

At the table was three other teens. Each of them carried a unique expression.

The first boy seemed uninterested in Justice's entrance, instead he was more focused on the food at hand. He piled several pancakes onto his plate and doused them in syrup.

The girl next to him cast a sideways glance as she looked down at the single egg sitting on her plate.

The last boy threw a waffle onto the girl's plate, the two exchanged dirty expressions, but then he moved his attention to Justice.

"You can take a seat," The boy said, "I'm Russell by the way."

"I'm Justice," Justice said and awkwardly took a seat at the opposite end of the table.

"We know," The girl said, still looking down at her plate, "Elijah already took us."

"Elijah was the old guy," Russell explained. "These quite folks are Maria and Ralph."

"How did you die?" Ralph asked abruptly.

Maria shot an aggressive look at Ralph.

"We shouldn't beat around the bush," Ralph said, "What if he's developed some sort of psychological damage from his past life? I figured you'd get that."

"A car crash," Justice blurted out, he was uncomfortable speaking of it, especially because that supported the idea that he had in fact been killed. "I was drunk."

Ralph nodded. "I'll remember to keep you away from the bottle then."

"Stop it," Maria insisted.

"Eat your breakfast," Ralph barked, "I'm just trying to make things easier."

"So what's even going on?" Justice asked.

"You've been drafted," Ralph explained, "Whether you like it or not."

"For what? This sure doesn't look like the military."

"Looks that way," Ralph said, "But don't let the aesthetic fool you. This is a war."

"I don't understand," Justice said, "You guys are saying I died, and I kind of believe it. But I'm here."

"We all died," Ralph said, "Then we came back."

"How? Why?"

Ralph shrugged, "Your guess is as good as ours. One moment dead, then the next moment here. No fuss, nothing. And that's how it's been for the three of us, and I'm assuming for you too."

Justice almost agreed, but a memory rushed into his mind. There was the grassy hill, the girl with blond. Was that just a dream? He wasn't sure anymore.

Reality was currently doing a handstand.

"At least he came today," Russell said, "So we have time to train him before anything weird happens."

Maria nodded, keeping her eyes on her plate, "That's true, we should still have a few days."

Justice looked between the two and tried to catch any sort of extra communication. Everyone seemed to talk as if he was already an expert in this strange world.

"Can someone please fill me in?" Justice asked.

"Yeah," Ralph said, "Eventually we'll catch you up to speed. But for now, just relax. You're alive, so treat yourself to an egg or two, Elijah spent his morning preparing them."

* * *

One of the strangest things to Justice was that the time between his death and resurrection had apparently been five years. This was a shared phenomenon between the four of them though the distance was completely personalized.

"I died seven years before I was resurrected," Russell explained. The two were sitting out in a wide courtyard built into the side of the manor. Justice had decided he liked Russell, there was a charismatic air to his earnestness. They were under the shade of a pear tree while Russell enjoyed one of its emerald fruits. "Things aren't really that different."

Justice shrugged, he couldn't imagine he missed much either.

A pang followed closely behind his next thought. He wondered where his girlfriend was by now.

"Have you tried to go home?" Justice asked.

Russell shrugged, "I've thought about it, but Ralph doesn't want us to."

"Why not?"

"Doesn't really talk about it," Russell said in between bites, "I figured he's already tried it, I mean he's been here a year longer than any of us."

Justice wasn't sure why that thought hadn't occurred to him before, someone would have to have been there first, figured it would be Ralph.

"I mean look at us," Russell said as he waved his hand across his body, "I sure didn't look like this before I died. They probably wouldn't believe it no matter how much I tried."

"Yeah," Justice agreed, though deep in his mind's eye he wasn't convinced. He clung to the fantasy of returning home and meeting his parents. They would have to remember him. Surely their connection was far greater than any physical appearances.

Justice looked down at the watch and ring resting on his right side. Ralph promised an eventual explanation but none had surfaced.

Justice was really starting to crave a drink.

"Things will make a bit more sense tonight," Russell offered, noticing Justice's fascination with his new watch and ring.

Justice didn't exactly know what that implied, but he looked out at the crimson red star that was dipping down into the skyline.

He didn't know where he was, but he definitely wanted to find out.

* * *

There was a cool breeze blowing across the empty basketball field the four of them had met at. Justice looked around and suddenly realized he knew where he was. Back in his other life, this had been freshly constructed, he had actually played with his younger brother here once or twice.

The idea filled him with both joy and dread. That meant he was only a twenty-minute drive from his hometown, whatever was left of it anyway.

"In times past I just tried to explain everything during the first breakfast," Ralph blurted. He was standing right under one of the hoops. He was dressed in a red hoodie and jeans. His age seemed to shine through in the heavy moonlight, sure he was probably only in his late twenties, but the mileage of whatever life he was living riddled him like a disease. "But it's better if I just show you."

Ralph held up his right hand, and his ring and wristwatch both exploded with crimson colors.

His armor was like nothing Justice had ever seen in his life. A leather undersuit with red plating. It was like something out of a fantasy movie, or maybe a video game.

"I said that we're at war, and that couldn't be any truer," Ralph explained. "This city is crawling with creatures we've dubbed demons. We are the only thing between them and the rest of the world." Ralph pointed at the watch on Justice's wrist. "You have been given the power to fight. You have been resurrected with one purpose, to protect."

Justice simply nodded. Deep down he knew that he hadn't quite had enough to process what was being said. It was all foreign and rather terrifying, but he had yet to touch the ground.

"You have to channel your inner power," Ralph said, "From there you can summon your own spirit armor. You can become a Power Ranger."

Justice touched the smooth crystal face of his watch. Did he really have that kind of power inside of himself?

Justice didn't have much time for contemplation because before he knew it he was surrounded.

A posse of cloaked figures formed a tight ring around the four youths. It didn't take much imagination to discover they were the aforementioned demons.

"This is weird," Russell muttered, "They don't really do this."

"Mass around like this?" Justice asked.

"No, come a second day in a row."

The posse opened to allow three figures to step into the yellow light. Two of the figures appeared to be guards of sorts, dressed in full body armor with masked designed to resemble tiger skulls.

The third figure was a little harder for Justice to swallow. It was a bipedal figure clad in plated Chinese armor. It pointed its snout at the four humans and it's tiger mouth formed a crude smile.

"Sorry for the brash entrance," He said in a gruff voice. "I just wanted to meet your new arrival."

"So what, are you the leader?" Ralph asked, he brandished a giant hammer and held it ready.

"Something like that," The tiger said. The figure took a step closer and unsheathed his blade.

Maria and Russell both summoned their own armor, purple and green respectively and stood their guard.

The tiger laughed, "I'm not interested in anyone but the Youngblood."

Justice was frozen solid, he could see the bloodlust circling in the tiger's golden eyes.

The tiger swung his blade into the Red Ranger, sending sparks from his body and causing him to buckle over.

When the green and purple Rangers jumped to Justice's aid they were quickly intersected by the tiger's skull guards.

The tiger moved in swiftly, his body melting into a blur before picking Justice up by the collar of his shirt and lifting him in the air.

"Show me your power," the tiger hissed. "Give me fear."

Justice could feel something stirring in his chest, something more than just fear. Something was trying to break free, he could feel it tingling in his fingertips. Begging for release, needing some sort of escape from his tin body.

A navy colored electricity raised across his right arm, seeming to crawl from the watch and up his forearm. He closed his eyes, giving all of his focus to this power, letting it dictate him in the purest form possible.

Then it exploded. It jumped out of him like water from a fire hydrant. The tiger was knocked to his feet as Justice was swallowed by the energy.

The energy transformed into Justice's own armor. It was similar to the rest, only cobalt and carrying the symbol for Aquarius on his chest.

The navyranger lifted his weapons in the air, a short sword and a badge-shaped shield.

The new Ranger swung down at the tiger, their blades met with a shower of sparks. Justice had never touched a sword in his life, but how his brain was surging with different formations. His muscles were tuned into several subtle twitches that most humans spent their entire lives developing.

He slammed his shield into the tiger's maw and send it back a few paces, then he stabbed forward with all of his strength. The blade missed its mark, but instead cut into the metal pole that supported the basketball hoop.

The tiger had seen enough and decided to flee while he had the chance. He kicked into the navy ranger and dashed away.

The other demons followed, leaving the four rangers completely alone.

Justice fell to his knees as his morphed form slipped away. He felt drained both emotionally and physically as if he has been subject to a strange possession.

"You did good," Ralph said, also back to his civilian form. "Though next time don't miss."

Russell helped Justice up while Maria and Ralph fled. "A sword _and_ a shield, that definitely beats my bow."

Justice was still trying to beat the pounding in his head. If this was what it would be like every time he could definitely see himself taking a more passive stance.

Still, he would worry about that later. Instead, he tried to focus on the fact he was still alive. He looked back at the basketball court and felt a wave of nostalgia.

He never knew how far one could feel from home when only a town away.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: After some thought I have decided to give the story a little more attention considering there is some unique potential for story telling. Also, for some unexplained reason I accidentally replaced the chapter one file with the chaper two file. That should be fixed by the time this is updated but I still apologize for the confusion that might arise.**

* * *

Maria was having that dream again. The one where she's falling in a pit of darkness.

She looked down at her meaty hands and scowled. She felt poison in every pound. It sunk into every one of her bones. It left her sick and greasy. She wanted nothing more than to sink a knife into her flesh and purge herself of the disgusting disease that floated right below the skin.

She awoke with a body laced with sweat. She whipped the tears from her face and looked in the mirror.

Her post-resurrection body was toned and well kept, tanned and beautiful, but she couldn't help but thirst for what existed before. In her past life, she was a goddess, crafted painstakingly from her own stone.

This body was nothing but a rental.

She signed and threw on some clothes, it was almost time for breakfast anyway, and if she was late Ralph would have a meltdown.

She took a step out of her room and caught the new kid walking alone through the hallway. She hadn't quite pegged him down yet. She imagined he was a loner in his past life, socialization seemed foreign to him.

Maria had a decent amount of friends in her former existence. Most of them she couldn't stand, but they had a way of delivering exactly what she wanted if she asked them correctly.

Back then she would have laughed Justice off, probably called him a creep. Just for good measure and a cheap laugh.

"I better see you at the breakfast table," Ralph said from behind.

Maria tried to hide her surprise. She knew Ralph took a distant satisfaction in being undetected. "Quit being a dick." She snapped and kept walking.

Ralph was definitely the older brother she never wanted. He stood around like a hound dog and broke into a barking fit at anything that displeased him.

Next came Russell, who stumbled out of his room with sleep in his eyes. Russell was the second youngest in the Manor, and in his few months he had hardly offered any progress at all.

Russell smiled at Maria, "After training, I was gonna go to town, wanna come?"

Maria squinted, "What exactly do you plan on doing?"

Russell shrugged, "Probably just walk around the mall. That's usually the best place to get information."

Maria raised an eyebrow, "Since when did you become interested in espionage?"

"I'd hardly say I'm 007, I just know that teens tend to whisper the loudest."

She just blinked at Russell for a few moments; didn't he remember he was hardly 17 himself? She supposed not, it was easy to forget when they were forced to be so distance from themselves.

"I guess I'll go," She said with a shrug. Honestly, she was dying to get out of the Manor, but Maria didn't want to impose the impression that she longed for alone time with Russell.

* * *

Training had been rough, as usually was the case when it came to Ralph. He was thorough and relentless. He would pound and pound until there was nothing left but a pile of sweat and pair of basketball shorts.

Maria had changed out of her training attire but hadn't bothered to shower, though upon reflection she was starting to regret that decision.

The mall always felt nostalgic to her, she had spent more time there than probably anywhere else in her pre-resurrection life. Her eyes scanned a group of teens chatting loudly, completely swallowed into their own existence.

She frowned, although she could return here anytime it definitely lacked most of its former amusement.

"It's almost four," Russell said, "We should probably get dinner."

"Elijah will have something ready when we get back," Maria snapped.

"It'll be cold," Russell said, "Come on."

Maria narrowed her eyes, this was starting to look less like a mission and more like a trap.

Maria looked at Russell and rolled her eyes, "Yeah, I guess we can grab something real quick."

The two of them sat at the snack bar with a plate of nachos between them. Russell had originally charged head first into his meal but halted once he noticed how sporadically Maria was pecking.

"I bought enough for both of us," Russell said.

Maria shrugged and kept her eyes just below the plate.

"I don't want to sound like Ralph...but-"

"Then keep your mouth shut," Maria snapped.

Russell was about to explode but seconds before he could fire whatever was loaded into his barrel two preteen girls adjacent to them did what they do best.

"Yeah, now that you mention it Danny has been acting pretty weird."

"See," the second voice said.

The two girls both sat with their straws to their mouths, grinning silently, locked in the tension of their rumor.

"Danny slept all through Geometry," the first girl said, "And he was sitting right next to Alyssa."

"Danny _never_ sleeps in class," the second girl exclaimed, "He's too scared of getting drug tested."

"I think he's getting sick," one of the girls rationalized, "I mean he looks like a zombie or something."

Maria knew Russell had been eavesdropping as well, she could see the interest peaking on his face.

"I wouldn't read into it too deep," Maria said, "They're just kids."

"Aren't kids supposed to be the most honest people?"

"I don't think that twelve-year-old girls fall into that majority."

Russell didn't have anything to combat that so instead he became reclusive. He had a tendency to do that, which was actually the case for all of the resurrectees.

If it were up to Maria to guess she would say that it was because dying tended to be one of the most self-centered experiences one could endure, and the four of them were simply still in the fallout.

The nachos slowly disappeared. Maria even choked down a few for good show and then the two of them headed back to the pavilion.

It wasn't four minutes after that teenage boy fell to the ground and started to scream. He had collapsed to his knee and he flailed like a drunk puppeteer.

Maria knew she was a bit out of the loop, but this definitely seemed a bit sketchy.

Russell was the first to move. He pushed passed the stunned spectators and rushed to the boy's aid.

"Are you okay?" Russell asked. The boy responded, but in a jerking animalistic fashion. His eyes were wide, empty except for a faint rumor of aggression.

Maria felt the threat before it materialized. A primeval tug from within her gut forced her to grab hold of Russell's shirt moments before the boy jumped towards them.

He was snarling now. His anger had bloomed into something only vaguely resembling a human emotion. He seemed like a vessel of sorts, a victim of some inhuman possession.

As she tried to separate Russell from the boy it grabbed hold of her arm. The tightness of his grip stirred poison inside her stomach.

Focus.

The past is dust.

Suddenly it became easier to forget as she dodged the boy trying to bite her face off.

"Woah! This dude's a zombie," A teenage boy said from behind his cellphone. He kept the camera focused on their struggle and offered no other assistance.

Maria was holding the boy back with all of her strength. One of her hands was still in his grip but he seemed uninterested in reeling her in. Instead, he simply snapped his jaw in an automatic motion. Snarling in between bites and generally making a nasty show out of it.

She tried to knee him in the groin, and once that failed she started to realize how much trouble she was in.

It was a quarter till five. Still four hours short of nightfall.

Four hours before she could morph into her armor.

Realistically Maria didn't think she could hold out that long.

"I got him!" Russell called. She looked up and saw him standing behind the boy.

This wasn't going to go well.

Before she could stop Russell he grabbed the boy by the waist and jerked him away from Maria. The boy flipped around like a fish stuck on shore. Russell held tightly, using every ounce of strength in his body to restrain the boy.

Unfortunately, he was far too focused on capture and he neglected to see where the boy's jaw had wondered.

Russell screamed as the pair of teeth sunk right into his upper bicep. Russell fell back and grabbed his bleeding arm. The boy fled.

Maria figured she ought to chase after him but a few mall security guards beat her too it. Together with a police officer, they managed to restrain the boy and were dragging him away.

Whatever happened to him from that point onward was out of her hands.

Russell was gripping his wound and looking rather shaken. There was a decent amount of blood, but nothing worth pulling the mops out.

"Let's go get you fixed up," Maria said.

Russell looked like he wanted to object, but made no attempt. Instead, he just stood up and followed her out.

* * *

It was pointless to use stitches. That was because their post-resurrection bodies had miraculously fast healing properties.

At first Maria had questioned it, but now it was just another mystery. One in a million at this point.

Ralph looked down at the bloody bandages and asked Maria a recap of the events that led to the missing section of Russell's arm.

She explained for the fourth time.

Ralph seemed to be reviewing the details in his head. Trying to digest them down to their smallest molecular form.

"How do you feel?" Ralph asked for the tenth time.

"A little woozy," Russell admitted, "But I think I'm fine."

Ralph nodded, "If you start feeling anything let me know."

"Like what?" Russell asked.

"I don't know, like _weird_."

"Are you serious?" Justice asked. The newest recruit was standing in the doorway looking about a quarter way comfortable. "It wasn't a zombie that got him"

"And why not?" Ralph asked in a stern voice.

Maria sighed, it was always obnoxious when Ralph got all defensive. Maria didn't know if she could handle things if it turned out Justice was a trigger for this behavior.

"Because that's insane."

"You want to talk insane?" Ralph asked. His nostrils were flaring and his shoulder extended. "I've seen my own grave. I've stood directly over the ground where my body _rots._ Don't talk to me like I've never seen crazy."

Justice shrugged, "I was just trying to have a healthy debate."

"You were trying to get on my nerves."

"Actually. I was trying to get a gauge on how much opposition you can stomach. Apparently, it's not that much."

Ralph shot Justice a dirty look. The boy just shrugged and walked off.

"Can you guys be quiet?" Russell asked. His eyes had grown swollen. "I think I just need some sleep."

Before either of the two left in the room could reply to Russell he had already fallen asleep.

"I'll stay here and watch him," Ralph said. "Go find something productive to do."

"Tell me if something happens," Maria said. There was a rather unpleasant twisting in her abdomen. It was entirely her fault that Russell had gotten hurt. Just because she wasn't his biggest fan didn't mean she wanted anything ill to come his way. Russell was the most tolerable person in the Manor and it was impossible to feel anything other than guilt knowing she brought this on him.

She stepped out of Russell's room and into the wide hallway and was immediately pulled into her room by the mumbling sound of the television.

Maria was the only one with a TV. Unsurprising the vaguely supernatural Victorian Mansion wasn't equipped with cable, but she made due.

The man on the screen carried a bazar look of dread on his handsome face. He was looking right into the camera which gave the appearance he looking directly into Maria's eyes.

"We have had over five hundred cases of this unbelievably contagious pathogen in the last twenty-four hours. Twenty-five percent have been reported to develop the aggressive tendencies. The CDC has recommended that all citizens remain in their homes until further notice. Treat this as a natural disaster. If you can't get to a basement or alternate shelter then at least keep your doors locked."

Maria felt a wave of nausea. This was starting to get a little surreal. Her life was already reminiscent of some action movie but now she was witnessing a scene straight out of a horror movie.

"We don't know where this disease originated from but it is projected that over thirty-five percent of the local population will be infected by nightfall. The only guaranteed form of infection is through bodily contact. If you believe you or someone around you has been infected we recommend you call the hotline at the bottom of your screen and a specialized EMT team will deliver you to the nearest treatment center."

Maria didn't need clairvoyance to know how screwed they were.

The man concluded his message with a soft sort of sympathy. "Please, for the sake of god. Stay safe."

 **To be continued in Chapter Four...**


End file.
